Marooned//Logicality

Chapter 3

"No no no no no no no no..." The voice sounded muffled, like it was on the other side of a thick wall.

"Come on, come on!"

I felt a vague sensation of pressure on my chest, followed by many sharp hits to my stomach. I tried to move my arms, tried opening my mouth to tell whoever it was to stop. It hurt. But no sound came out.

"Come on, Patton!" More blows to my torso accompanied each word.

"Come on, wake up!" The person sounded like they were crying.

"WAKE UP!"

My eyes flew open and I turned over to my side, vomiting water and the contents of my stomach onto the ground. I panted, trying to get my bearings.

"Oh thank God," the voice said.

Logan... the others... the storm... The memories crashed over me like a wave. I stumbled to my feet, needing to find them, needing to make sure they were okay. I'd barely registered the severe ache in my torso before something wrapped around my arm.

"Hey, hey, hey. It's okay, Patton."

I whirled around and squinted at the blurry figure, my eyes still burning from the salt water. Slowly, I took in the strong build, the red swim trunks, and the familiar amber eyes.

"Roman!" I choked out as I threw myself at my friend. Though my limbs were weak, I squeezed his soaking wet body with every bit of strength I could muster. I felt Roman suck in a breath and tense up; I immediately released him and held him at arm's length, examining him from head to toe.

"I was so worried about you, Patton." A tear slid down Roman's cheek, following the trail of many others that had leaked down his face. A sob broke out of him as he pulled me into another tight embrace. I settled into it, even though it hurt, and I clung to him like my life depended on it.

"You fell in, and I... I dove in after you... I was so, so scared... I thought you weren't breathing... I tried to keep us floating, but... the storm was insane... Logan and Virgil... I saw them drift away, and... and I tried to get to them, but they were so far away... we floated for so, so long after the storm ended, and I was struggling to keep your head above the surface and you kept getting water in your mouth..." Roman's words spouted out of his mouth in between the cracks in his voice, and small details started to resurface in my broken memory; Roman pulling me up towards the surface. Floating for hours in the empty expanse of the ocean, clutching each other. Roman's arm secure around my waist.

As if on cue, pain flared up again in my abdomen. I audibly groaned, and Roman relaxed his grip enough for me to find the hem of my shirt and pull it up to reveal the circle of purple bruises around my waist and a large one centered at my sternum. My breaths were labored, each one hurting more than the last.

"I'm so sorry." Roman's voice cracked again. "I didn't want to drop you, so I held on as tight as I could. And when I dragged you ashore, you weren't breathing anymore, and I didn't know how to get the water out, so I just kept pounding and pounding..." He trailed off, letting the thought finish itself. I gingerly fingered the injury.

After a while, I spoke up, my voice barely more than a weak whisper. "It's okay, Roman." I placed my hand on his cheek to force him to meet my eyes. I gave him a small smile. "Thank you so, so much. Are you okay?" He looked just as well as I felt; he was covered in bruises and scratches and seemed to be favoring his right arm.

Roman huffed an incredulous laugh and hugged me again. "Yeah. Yeah, I'm alright." I let out a small giggle and he followed suit; soon we were taken over by painful laughing fits and slid down to our knees, our falling tears and stress-induced chuckles a dark contrast.